Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1887-02-12
The SPECTRAL MORTGAGE.
A. Genuine Ghost Story.
Frank R. Stockton IN The Century.

CHAPTER /.
Toward the close of a beautiful after
neon in early summer | stood on the
piazza of the spacious country-house
which was my home. i had just
dined, and l gazed, with a peculiar
comfort and delight, upon the wide
spreading lawn and the orchards and
groves beyond; and then, walking to
the other end of the piazza, | looked
out toward the broad pastures, from
which a drove of cattle were leisurely
coming home to be MIXED, and to-
ward the fields of grain, whose green
was beginning already to be touched
with yellow. Involuntairly (for, on
principle, / was opposed to such feel
ings) a pleasant sense of possession
came over me. 1t could not be long
before all this would virtually be
mine.
About two years before, / had mar
ried the niece of John Hinckman, the
ownerof this fine estate. He was
very old, and could not be expected
to survive much longer, and had
willed the property, without reserve,
to my wife. This, in brief, was the
cause of my present sense ofprospect-
i've possession, and although, as I
said, I was principled against the
voluntary encouragement Of such a
sentiment, l could not blame myself
if the feeling occasionally arose with
in me. i had not married my wife
for her uncle's money. Indeed, we
had both expected that the marriage
would result in her being entirely
disinherited. His niece was John
Hinckman's housekeeper and sole
prop and comfort, and if she left him
for me she expected no kindness at
his hands. But she had not left him.
To our surprise, her uncle invited us
to live with him, and our relations
with him became more and more
amicable and pleasant, and Mr..
Hinckman had, Oflate, frequently eX-
pressed to me his great satisfaction
that 1 had proved to be man after
his own heart; that 1 took an inter-
est in fiocks and herds and crops that
| showed a talent for such pursuits,
and that / would continue to give,
when he was gone, the same care and
attention to the place which it had
been so long his greatest pleasure to
bestow. He was old and illnow, and
tired of it all, and the fact that had
not proved to be, as he had formerly
supposed me, a mere city gentleman,
was a great comfort to his declining
days. We were deeply grieved tC
think that the old man must soon die
We would gladly have kept him with
us for years; but, if he must 60, il
was pleasant to know that he anC
ourselves were so well satisfied with
the arrangements that had beer
made. Think me not cold and heart
less, high-minded reader. For few
moments put yourself in my place.
But had you, at that time, put your
self in my place on that pleasant piaz
"a, l do not believe you would have
cared to stay there long; for, as
stood gazing over the fields, felt s
touch upon my shoulder. 1 cannot
say that I was actually touched, but
experienced feeling which indica
ted that the individual who had ap
parently touched me would have
done so had he been able. / instant
ly turned, and saw, standing beside
me, tall figure in the uniform of /
Russian officer. l started back bu
made no sound. j knew what the
figure was. 1t was specter-a veri
table ghost.
Some years before this place hat
been haunted. l knew this well, fol
I had seen the ghost myself. But be
fore my marriage the specter had dis
appeared, and had not been seer
since; and / must admit that my
satisfaction, when thinking of thii
estate, without mortgage or incum
brance, was much increased by tn,
thought that even the ghost, whc
used to haunt the house had depart
ed.
But here he was again. Although